Will today’s new arrivals turn out to be like our mythical immigrant ancestors, assimilate and become loyal and proud Americans? Or, will they by their sheer magnitude redefine what it is to be an American?

Encountering many faces from various cultures, I became preoccupied with these questions the first time I stepped into a public school as an artist in residence. Being an immigrant myself, I wanted to know how these travelers between tradition and modernity coped with the vastly different cultures of home and school. The result of this personal quest is Faces of New America, a collection of portraits of first and second generation adolescents that immortalize the new Americans as their identities are being shaped. The portraits are not an end unto themselves but a means for creating dialogue about identity, citizenship, and belonging, through artist residencies, exhibition and blog with others who share my curiosity. Read More